Top 10 Semiconductor Trends in 2023

28/02/2023 Seektronics


Overall trend of top ten semiconductor companies in 2023

In 2022, the market is flagging, the PC market and the demand for electronic consumption are declining, the major manufacturers are cutting orders continuously, the inventory is high successively, and the overall market supply and demand mismatch; There are also cases of short supply, such as logic chips, IGBT, automotive MCU and so on to maintain a high business status.

 

In the face of this market situation, look at Taiwan Semiconductor, Intel, Samsung, SK Hynix, United electric and other major manufacturers, how to optimize the industrial layout adjustment, to meet the 2023 new start.

 

 

 

[Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company]

 

Attack overseas market, improve 3 nm yield; Technology development 2-nanometer process; The expenditure budget has been further revised down.

 

From the perspective of the process node, the utilization rate of 7nm and 6nm capacity of TSMC has declined, which is estimated to take several quarters to adjust. It is expected that the demand is expected to recover in the second half of this year. The 3-nanometer process has been mass-produced in Nanke Factory, and the upgraded 3-nanometer process will be mass-produced in Q3 this year. The 2-nanometer process will be mass-produced in 2025.

 

Inventories have been adjusted for the third quarter of 2022 and the market will recover in the second half of the year.

 

In terms of revenue and expenses

 

Revenue: Operating revenue for the January-December period of 2022 was NT $2,263.89 billion (about 502.584 billion yuan), up 42.6% from the same period last year. Among them, net profit in the fourth quarter of 2022 was NT $295.904 billion, up 78 percent year-on-year.

 

Spending: Capital spending is expected to be in the $32 billion to $36 billion range in 2023, down from $36.29 billion last year.

 

Of its capital investment, 70% goes to advanced processes and 20% to specialized processes (including micro-electromechanical (MEMS), CMOS image sensing components (CIS), embedded flash memory (eFlash), mixed-signal/RF components, etc.). 10% is used in advanced packaging and optical cover production.

 

Key point: attack the overseas market

 

Under the influence of labor and local factors, the cost of various expenses is 4-5 times higher than that in Taiwan. In order to ensure overseas profits, TSMC aims to set an overseas gross profit rate higher than 25%.

 

At the same time, it will increase the overseas production capacity of the 28-nanometer process below to 20 percent or more in the next five years, based on customer demand and government incentives.

 

 Intel 

 

Adhere to Intel IDM 2.0 strategy, open X86, build a cutting-edge factory, complete five process nodes within four years; Cost reduction and efficiency increase, partnering with Dell Technologies, Google Cloud, Hui & Tech, Lenovo, Microsoft Cloud, Nvidia and others on data center and AI (Sapphire Rapids processors), forecast to ship 1 million processors.

 

nodal

 

Intel 7 (10nm) is now in mass production for clients and servers; Intel 20A and Intel 18A, Intel began its first internal tests of chips and chips.

 

Revenue and expenses

 

Revenue: Intel reported revenue of $14 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, down 32% from $20.528 billion in the same period last year. It was Intel's worst annual decline since 2001.

 

Spending: Intel plans to drive $3 billion in cost cuts in 2023 and $8 billion to $10 billion in annual cost reductions by the end of 2025.

 

Since last year, Intel executives have laid off employees and cut costs, eliminating hundreds of jobs in Silicon Valley. Scrapping Israel's IDC21 program, replacing its research and development center with a parking lot, will save about $200 million.

 

PC chip inventory overhang

 

Intel shipments in 2022 were 10% below market demand. As demand deteriorates more than expected, 270m PCS are expected to be shipped in 2023.

 

 Samsung 

 

Building IP alliances to mass-produce 3nm chips for customers such as Nvidia, Qualcomm, IBM and Baidu; Develop the second generation of 3 nm chips, clear inventory, and plan to increase outsourcing production of non-memory chips, including display driver ics and image sensors.

 

Samsung is considering cutting wafer spending to reduce DRAM and NAND chip production; And cut its 2023 chip profit forecast in half as major chipmakers and their customers struggle to adjust to their high inventory levels.

 

Revenue and expenses

 

Revenue: Samsung has released results for the fourth quarter of 2022, forecasting operating profit of 4.3 trillion won ($3.43 billion) for the quarter, a 69% drop from the same period last year and the biggest profit drop in nearly a decade.

 

Spending: Samsung has announced a 450 trillion won investment plan over five years, which it is expected to use aggressively to kick-start acquisitions.

 

SK Hynix 

 

Upgraded DRAM products, focused on the CMOS image sensor (CIS) market, and transformed from low-end products to high-end products.

 

Starting from the second half of this year, we plan to produce 10nm 4th generation (1a) fine process products. Developed the fastest moving DRAM----LPDDR5T (running speed of 9.6Gbps).

 

Revenue and expenses

 

Revenue: Operating profit for the third quarter of 2022, announced in October 2022, was down 60% from the same period in 2021.

 

Spending: Plans to cut capital expenditure by 50 per cent year on year in 2023 (estimated at 17.47 trillion won) and cut production of DRAM and NAND (mainly traditional products).

 

 United Electric 

 

In the first quarter of this year, UMC adopted a conservative strategy to maintain stable wafer foundry prices, improve capacity utilization, and maintain cooperation with Infineon and Qualcomm.

 

As orders continue to be weak, capacity utilization is expected to fall to 70 percent and wafer shipments to decline 17 to 19 percent quarter-on-quarter. In response, UMC has managed costs and deferred some capital expenditures where possible.

 

 STMicroelectronics (ST)

 

The company will continue to execute its original strategy, focusing on automotive and industrial, with continued commitment to the 10-nanometer process and continued expansion of silicon carbide capacity, including 12-inch fabs and silicon carbide (SiC) capacity, including substrate projects.

 

Revenue and expenses

 

Revenue: Strong automotive and industrial demand, customer order volume (top customers include Apple and Tesla), Q4 net revenue of $4.424 billion, above market revenue level.

 

Spending: In 2023, STMicroelectronics plans about $4 billion in capital expenditures to add 300mm wafers and silicon carbide manufacturing capacity.

 

 SMIC 

 

It plans to invest 7.5 billion US dollars to build a 12-inch wafer production line, which can produce 100,000 pieces per month and provide wafer foundry and technical services with different technical nodes of 0.18 microns to 28 nanometers. On September 24, SMIC started construction of the Tianjin Xiqing 12-inch chip project.

 

Also expanding the production of 12-inch wafers is Huahong Semiconductor, which will invest 45 billion yuan.

 

Texas Instruments (TI)

 

CEO Rich Templeton will step down and be replaced by Haviv Ilan on April 1; Optimistic about the vehicle terminal market, PMIC power management chip to adopt flexible pricing strategy.

 

Revenue and expenses

 

Revenue: TI reported fourth-quarter revenue of $4.67 billion, down 3% from a year earlier, with automotive and industrial accounting for 65% of total revenue. Net revenue fell to $1.96 billion.

 

Expenses: TI forecast first-quarter 2023 revenue of $4.17 billion to $4.53 billion, increased operating costs to $8.7 billion from $5.9 billion, increased production at its 300-millimeter fab and plans to build two more fabs in Sherman, Texas.

 

 Renesas 

 

Industrial, automotive, infrastructure, IoT and data center sectors; Continue to increase product research and development investment, mainly promote 28 nm Flash process MCU products.

 

In order to meet the new needs of the advanced manufacturing process, Renesas from 40 nm to 28 nm, taking the lead in the industry to design and launch 28 nm Flash process MCU products.

 

In addition to process innovation, we also invested in the establishment of closed test plants in Beijing and Suzhou, and cooperated with outsourcing enterprises to expand production capacity and build a flexible supply chain.

 

 Asml 

 

As a result of chip regulations and self-sufficiency in China, ASML has been under pressure to ship its machines, and machine lead times have not kept pace with potential customer demand, resulting in an order backlog of more than 40 billion euros.

 

In 2022, ASML's net sales reached 21.2 billion euros, gross margin was 50.5% and net profit was 5.6 billion euros. Sales are not low, in large part because ASML relies mainly on lithography machines, but also on the sale of advanced lithography systems, such as EUV systems, which accounted for €3.4 billion of the €6.3 billion Q4 order book last year.

 

Sales of ASML are inseparable from advanced manufacturing processes. Currently, 14 nanometers can be produced by DUV lithography, while 7 nanometers, 5 nanometers, and 3 nanometers can be produced by EUV lithography. For example, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., LTD is one of the major customers of ASML. The 3-nanometer manufacturing process of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., LTD can smoothly produce and complete the plant construction plan, and ASML will greatly relieve the inventory pressure.

 

As it stands, ASML is not only facing pressure from the Dutch government and restrictions on sales to Chinese customers but also depends on the progress of advanced manufacturing processes by major chip makers.

 

General settlement

 

2023, global semiconductor capital expenditure contraction, Taiwan Semiconductor, Inter, SK Hynix, etc., have been reduced. Each manufacturer increases plant expansion, and inventory clearing, tightly research and developed of the advanced manufacturing process, and update the track. The capital investment of SMIC and Texas Instruments is oriented to wafers, and the expansion of production is the main force. Inter to adjust inventory overhang; Renesas, and ST, mainly attack the auto circuit, in addition, SMIC, Huahong, IDM, Slanwei, and Amison also force the auto circuit. Semiconductor makers, while making up for the loss of falling consumer demand, are eager to explore a new turning point and ride the wind. In 2022, the global semiconductor industry suffered from the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, raw material price fluctuations, repeated outbreaks of COVID-19, and the overall semiconductor industry downturn. However, 2023 May usher in a recovery, which will be an important node for the adjustment of supply and demand in the semiconductor market, as well as a year for the automotive semiconductor market and the wave of automation in the 4.0 era.